Maghull Town Council Labour leader says Local Plan survey has be

Maghull Town Council staff have been busy processing hundreds of responses from Maghull residents to the Local Plan survey.

Residents from throughout the town have been completing the survey that was launched by the Labour-run town council.

The survey is designed to be an apolitical exercise aimed at objectively gauging people's views on the future of the town.

The results will give the town council the chance to form a view on the plan that is based on the views of the people of Maghull.

Liberal Democrat town councillors refused to get involved in gathering views on the plan which will be the blue print for the evolution of the town over the next 15 years.

Maghull Town Council's Labour leader Cllr Patrick McKinley said he was amazed by the number of responses to the survey.

Cllr McKinley said: "We are astounded by the number of respondents we have had to the survey.

"The staff at the town hall are going through the surveys we have received back so far and will be producing a report which will then be formally presented to Sefton Council as Maghull Town Council's official response to the Local Plan consultation.

"This Local Plan is one of the most important documents which lays out the future of Maghull for the next 15 years.

"While we don't yet know the results of the survey, what I do know is that from the number of responses we have received, there is clearly a lot of interest.

"This survey has been one of the biggest ever exercises in participative democracy ever undertaken by the town council.

"The Labour Councillors were determined to give everyone a chance to have a say on this document, it is just a shame that the Liberal Democrats wanted to gag the people of Maghull and close the door on any consultation.

"We have been determined for that not to happen and that is why we have been knocking on hundreds of door over the past weeks to encourage people to take part."

Maghull Town Council staff are independently analysing the results and feeding back to town councillors.

Cllr Maurice Byrne said: "We have wanted this survey to be totally independent so we can get a clear and apolitical understanding of the views of the people of Maghull.

"The town council staff are going through the hundreds of responses and those findings will then be fed back to all of the councillors on the town council.

"This has been one of, if not the, biggest survey of the people of Maghull in the town's history. Our aim has been to be as open and democratic as possible. That is what we have wanted to achieve and that is exactly what we have achieved.

"It has been about giving the people of Maghull a voice on how our town will evolve."

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